A weekly recounting of the weekend adventures of Tom Kotynski, retired Great Falls Tribune Associate Editor, who prowls Montana's mountains and communities' happenings. All photos and writing are copyright Tom Kotynski.

About Me

Sunday, December 16, 2012

Binding break waylays an otherwise great snow day

Skiing across the Deadman flats --- pure heaven

Jim Heckel loves the slopes and snow in his secret place above Weatherwax Creek in the Little Belts.
He sneaks in there as often as the snow cooperates.
Last week the snow cooperated by dropping 13 new inches on top a great, rain-hardened base.
It was a tad cold, in the lower teens, Saturday, but things were set up just perfectly.
We hit the Deadman Trail at Kings Hill Pass early and had done our first turns by 11 a.m.
Just starting a second run Jim fell and snapped a cable on his binding, or the binding snapped and he fell.
It was one of those freak situations.
We had to turn our attention to making the three-mile or so trek back to the pass.
Luckily, Jim had duct tape and knew how to use it and strapped his boot to the binding and gimped his way out.
It could have been pretty ugly if he hadn't been able to do that.
The sun came out on the way back, making this trip better than we had imagined it could be.

New 2015 Front Book edition now available

2006 Front book updates and corrections

On Feb. 24, 2008 I posted updates and corrections for the 2006 edition of my book, "Discover the Rocky Mountain Front." This has been corrected in the second, 2015 edition, released June 10, 2015. In the First Edition, these are important for a number of reasons. First, there's an significant correction to the Muddy Creek Falls hike. Second, there's an update on trails affected by the 2007 fires season. Finally, there is a land ownership change in the Falls Creek Roadless Area, effectively closing the area from the Dearborn River.To find these updates you can go to the archive and look for February 2008, or search for "Front book updates."I will also be glad to e-mail these to anyone who asks. Contact me at: tomkotynski@msn.com and put "front updates" in the title line.Tom KotynskiFebruary 2008